Social networking has become a worldwide phenomenon and importance of social media is steadily and rapidly increasing. Millions of people communicate, share ideas, discuss news, current events, products, services and various other topics through different social media platforms. A social media platform, or service, enables a user to generate a piece of information, often referred to as a post, which can then be displayed on the social media web site where it can be viewed by other users. A post can include text, pictures, video or other information. Users can comment on the posts that they viewed, share it with their connections, or otherwise react to information in the post. Many users utilize social media services often—daily or even multiple times a day—and various themes can quickly become topics of active discussion as information spreads via a social network.
A wealth of information generated through social media platforms can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, market researchers can monitor social networking sites in an attempt to identify users' views on various products, services and other topics. However, it may be challenging to extract meaningful information from the large volume of social networking posts. The analysis can be further complicated by a lack of information about the people who are doing the posting. Thus, given the volume and complexity of social networking information, obtaining useful knowledge from it can be a daunting task.